35 mile video

Gosh, this job thing sure gets in the way of my running and blogging. :) It's nice to be tapering though. Ran a relaxed 5 miles yesterday. Here's the video from Sunday. It was too long for www.youtube.com to take as a single video so it appears in two parts. Enjoy!

Help support lupus research!

I promise the video from my 35 mile training run will be posted soon. It's too long for youtube.com so I have to edit it and haven't had time yet. Until then, help support lupus research! Being politically active is cool!

The below text is from the Lupus Foundation:

Help Secure More Funds for Lupus Research and Education:

Send an email to your U.S. Representative and United States Senators and urge them to become a co-sponsor of the Lupus REACH Amendments Act of 2007 . Go to the LFA Advocacy Action Center - enter your zipcode and click GO .

Ask your family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to join you in this effort to enact legislation that will heighten federal efforts to find the causes of and cure for lupus, and to educate the public, health professionals, and people with lupus about symptoms, health effects, and treatments.

Weekly Statistics

Did anyone else notice that the countdown clock on the site was like a day off? Maybe I'm the only one paying that much attention. :) Anyway, it's all fixed. Here are my stats for this week:

Total mileage: 52 miles
Long run: 35 miles
Average pace: 10:49 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 152 beats/minute

This officially begins my taper. My 35 mile long run went very well. Including breaks I averaged 11:30 minutes/mile. This has me completing the 50 mile run under 10 hours. That would be cool. Slow and steady finishes the race. I did the last testing of food and equipment and I'm pretty happy with my setup. I did use the video camera, but I'm a bit tired so I'll post the video later.

The Valley Vanguard

Yup, I'm famous. Or maybe it's infamous. Whatever. Anyway, here's the article about me in the Valley Vanguard. Not bad!

http://www.svsu.edu/clubs/vanguard/stories/1410

Lupus Email

I got this email the other day from someone who came across this website:

I would like to thank you for running for lupus. I have suffered with this disease for over 20 years. Unfortunately, I am becoming more disabled by the day. I would like to see this disease stopped with this generation. It pains me to think that others would have to live a life of pain and limitations. Thank you!

I've been getting nervous as the race nears and this message certainly is a poignant reminder that the nearly $2,000 all of you have given has already made this effort a success. It is also a meaningful reminder that lupus is a very painful and debilitating part of many people's lives. Thank you for your support.

Recovered

Well, I think I'm past whatever was bothering me last week. I did a short six mile run on Sunday, which felt okay. I did seven miles yesterday at a pretty decent pace for me (9 minutes/mile). Of course Elliott was in day care so it was a rare run when I didn't push the stroller at least part of the time. I'm still planning on capping my training with a 35 mile run this weekend. After that, I'm calling myself ready and eating carbs like crazy for three weeks amidst relaxed runs. In honor of the start of school, I'm working on a post titled "The Sociology of Running Shoes." Look for that soon.

Sick and Tired

Well, I'm not sick and tired of anything, but I have been sick and tired this week. I'm not sure if I stressed my endocrine system or something on my 30 miler last week. Basically, I've been fatigued the last few days, had minor muscle pain, and had periodic chills and cold sweats. I did a 12 mile run on Wednesday, which was fine, but the next day I just wasn't feeling right. It was sort of like having the flu without the nausea. Anyway, this morning when I woke up I started feeling more like myself. Unfortunately, I didn't get more than that one 12 mile run in last week. My original plan was to run 25 miles today, but of course it's been raining all day. Usually that wouldn't deter me, but I'm not sure I want to push my luck with less than a month to the race. I'll make it out for a run, but I haven't decided how far yet. I hate being sick.

On a more positive note, those of you that are part of SVSU can look for an article about me in the August 24th edition of the Valley Vanguard. I'll make sure to have a link to the article once it is up. Thanks to Alie for putting that together!

Scott Sigler Fans Unite Against Lupus!

No word from Scott Sigler, but someone called my phone last night and the caller ID said that it was Perry Dawsey. I thought that he was just some character from one of Scott's book. He left a message nearly as incoherent as Scott's. I guess Perry never recovered from the "incident" in Adrian, MI. Alien attacks will do that to you. He ranted about chicken scissors and the failure of Scott's fans to save him. He survived to the end of the book, so I'm not sure what he's so mad about.

Anyway, Perry said that 40,000 Scott Sigler Junkies may not have been able to keep him whole through Infested, but that doesn't mean they can't help save other people from a terrible disease called Lupus.

Lupus is a very real autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, joints, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys and brain. Normally the body's immune system makes proteins called antibodies, to protect the body against viruses, bacteria, and other foreign materials. In an autoimmune disorder like lupus, the immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign substances and its own cells and tissues. The immune system then makes antibodies directed against itself. These antibodies cause inflammation, pain and damage in various parts of the body. The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) estimates between 1.5 - 2 million Americans have a form of lupus, but the actual number may be higher. Although epidemiological data on lupus is limited, studies suggest that more than 16,000 Americans develop lupus each year.

My mother-in-law, as well as other of my family and friends have lupus. In just over a month, I'll be running a 50-mile ultramarathon to raise money for the Lupus Foundation of America. My goal is to raise $5,000. If only 1,000 of you Scott Sigler fans come through and donate $5 each this will blow the top off my goal. Hell, if you can take over amazon.com, you can help put an end to lupus.

Donate $5 now by clicking here or on the "Donate Now" button to the right and help me run like I'm being chased by an Ancestor.

(Help me even more! Digg this page, blog about it, email your friends, link to it, anything and everything helps! You know someone with lupus.)

Weekly Training Update

Sorry for the quick post. I'm currently addicted to video posts (you're right, Sandi!), so most of my comments are incorporated into the video. I promise I'll get over it and start writing more soon. Here are my stats from last week:

Total mileage: 50 miles
Long run: 30 miles
Average pace: 10:32 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 149 beats/minute

Rifle River State Recreation Area

This is a bit of a test. I got a new video camera a couple of weeks ago. It's the RCA Small Wonder. It's really small and doesn't have the best resolution compared to full sized cameras. However, it uses flash memory, is very easy to use, and sends video clips quickly to a computer through a USB connection. In other words, it's perfect for carrying around while exploring new parks, as Elliott and I did yesterday when we went for a hike at the Rifle River State Recreation Area, just outside Rose City. It was a really nice place, I would recommend it.





I might even carry the camera during the race. Then, all of you supporters can get a first hand account of the race. I'll have to devise a way to carry it.

Belated weekly summary

Well, I would like to say that my slight slip in training was due to some planned recovery days. Unfortunately, it was just an issue of a busy week at work and some high heat and humidity early in the week. Anyway, here are my stats from last week:


Total mileage: 38 miles
Long run: 20 miles
Average pace: 10:05 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 149 beats/minute

I also bought a new pair of shoes yesterday. I went with a pair of Brooks Adrenoline GTS 7. I've been putting enough miles on my Saucony shoes that I want to make sure I switch shoes before they start breaking down and bothering my knee. I was also in East Lansing for a meeting and couldn't help but stop by Playmakers. I haven't had time to try them out, but will post a review later.

Beware of Scott Sigler

I think that the notorious author Scott Sigler has been working too hard on his latest book, Infested, which will be coming out in 2008. He emailed me some bizarre, nearly incoherent message that revolved around the estimated 1.5 - 2 million Americans who have a form of lupus. Scott said that in lupus the immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign substances and its own cells and tissues. The immune system then makes antibodies directed against itself. These antibodies -- called "auto-antibodies" -- cause inflammation, pain and damage in various parts of the body. Scott sounded pretty mad about the whole thing. Honestly, it was more than a little scary. That guy is weird.

Here's the really scary part. This morning, when I woke up, the chicken scissors were missing from my kitchen. I'm afraid that this may be part of Scott's misguided plan to stop the spread of lupus. Someone tell Scott he's been working too hard on his horror novel Infested--Chicken scissors cannot cure lupus! Only donating to the Lupus Foundation of America will help!

To be continued...